Mask frame assembly and method of manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

A mask frame assembly for manufacturing a display device, and a method of manufacturing the mask frame assembly are disclosed. In one aspect, the mask frame assembly includes a frame having at least one opening portion defined therein. The mask frame assembly further includes a polymer film having a plurality of slits defined therein and combined to the frame.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/637,222, filed Mar. 3, 2015, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0076631, filed on Jun. 23,2014, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND Field

The described technology generally relates to a mask frame assembly anda method of manufacturing the same.

Description of the Related Technology

Of display devices, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays havenot only a wide viewing angle and an excellent contrast, but also a fastresponse rate, thereby being noted as next-generation displays.

An OLED display includes an emission layer between a first electrode anda second electrode facing each other, and an intermediate layerincluding the emission layer. Here, the electrodes and intermediatelayer may be formed in various ways, one of which is an independentdeposition method. In order to manufacture an OLED display using theindependent deposition method, an organic layer of a predeterminedpattern is formed on a surface of a substrate where the organic layerand the like are to be formed, by closely adhering fine metal mask (FMM)having the same pattern as that of the organic layer and the like to beformed and depositing a deposition material such as the organic layer,on the surface of the substrate.

SUMMARY OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE ASPECTS

One inventive aspect is a mask frame assembly for manufacturing adisplay device such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.

Another aspect is a method of manufacturing the mask frame assembly.

Another aspect is a mask frame assembly for depositing a depositionmaterial onto a substrate, and a method of manufacturing the same.

Another aspect is a mask frame assembly which includes a frame having atleast one opening portion, and a polymer film having plural slitscombined to the frame.

The frame may include a metal.

The mask frame assembly may further include an adhesive layer beinginterposed between the frame and the polymer film and adhering the frameand the polymer film.

Also, the polymer film may include at least one selected from polyimide,polyphenylene sulfide, polyaryletherketone (PAEK), and liquid crystalpolymer.

Also, the polymer film may include a pattern portion, and the slit maybe formed on the pattern portion.

Also, the opening portion may be formed in a location corresponding tothe pattern portion.

Another aspect is a method of manufacturing the mask frame assemblywhich includes an operation of coating a polymer solution on a glass, anoperation of forming the polymer film by drying and hardening thepolymer solution, an operation of combining the frame to the polymerfilm, an operation of desorbing the glass from the polymer film, and anoperation of processing a slit on the polymer film.

The operation of combining the frame to the polymer film may include anoperation of coating an adhesive layer on the polymer film, and anoperation of combining the frame to the adhesive layer.

The operation of processing the slit on the polymer film may use laserpatterning to process the slit. The operation of processing the slit onthe polymer film may use light exposure to process the slit.

Another aspect is a mask frame assembly for manufacturing a displaydevice, the mask frame assembly comprising: a frame having at least oneopening portion defined therein; and a polymer film having a pluralityof slits defined therein and combined to the frame.

In the above mask frame assembly, the frame is formed at least partiallyof a metal. The above mask frame assembly further comprises an adhesivelayer being interposed between the frame and the polymer film andadhering the frame and the polymer film. The above mask frame assemblyfurther comprises an adhesive layer being interposed between the frameand the polymer film and adhering the frame and the polymer film. In theabove mask frame assembly, the polymer film comprises one or more of:polyimide, polyphenylene sulfide, polyaryletherketone, and liquidcrystal polymer. In the above mask frame assembly, the polymer filmcomprises a pattern portion and the slits are formed on the patternportion.

In the above mask frame assembly, the pattern portion comprises aplurality of pattern portions, wherein the at least one opening portioncomprises a plurality of opening portions, and wherein the number of thepattern portions is the same as the number of the opening portions. Inthe above mask frame assembly, the lengths and widths of the openingportions are substantially the same. In the above mask frame assembly,the opening portion is formed in a location corresponding to the patternportion. In the above mask frame assembly, the opening portion is formedsubstantially directly below the pattern portion. In the above maskframe assembly, the thickness of the polymer film is in the range fromabout 10 μm to about 50 μm. In the above mask frame assembly, thepolymer film has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of about 3ppm/° C. or less.

Another aspect is a method of manufacturing a mask frame assembly for adisplay device, the method comprising: coating a polymer solution on aglass; drying and hardening the polymer solution so as to form a polymerfilm; combining a frame to the polymer film; desorbing the glass fromthe polymer film; and processing a plurality of slits on the polymerfilm.

In the above method, the combining comprises coating an adhesive layeron the polymer film, and combining the frame to the adhesive layer. Inthe above method, the processing uses laser patterning and/or lightexposure to process the slits. In the above method, the combining isperformed while the polymer solution is being dried and hardened. In theabove method, the polymer film has a plurality of pattern portionsdefined therein, wherein the frame has a plurality of opening portionsdefined therein, and wherein the number of the pattern portions is thesame as the number of the opening portions. In the above method, thelengths and widths of the opening portions are substantially the same.In the above method, the combining comprises aligning the frame with thepolymer film such that each of the opening portions is formedsubstantially directly below the corresponding pattern portion. In theabove method, the thickness of the polymer film is in the range fromabout 10 μm to about 50 μm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a mask frame assemblyaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the mask frame assembly of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of a mask frame assembly accordingto another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a maskframe assembly according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a view illustrating an operation of coating a polymersolution on a glass.

FIG. 5B is a view illustrating an operation of forming a polymer film bydrying and hardening the polymer solution.

FIG. 5C is a view illustrating an operation of combining a frame withthe polymer film.

FIG. 5D is a view illustrating an operation of desorbing the glass fromthe polymer film.

FIG. 5E is a drawing illustrating an operation of processing slits onthe polymer film.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout, and thus their repeateddescription will be omitted.

It will be understood that when a component, such as a layer, a film, aregion, or a plate, is referred to herein as being “on” anothercomponent, the component can be directly on the other component orintervening components may be present thereon. Also, sizes of componentsin the drawings may be exaggerated for convenience of explanation. Inother words, since sizes and thicknesses of components in the drawingsare arbitrarily illustrated for convenience of explanation, thefollowing embodiments are not limited thereto.

Also, when an embodiment may be implemented differently, a process ordermay be performed differently from the described order. For example, twoconsecutively described processes may be performed substantially at thesame time or performed in an order opposite to the described order. Inthis disclosure, the term “substantially” includes the meanings ofcompletely, almost completely or to any significant degree under someapplications and in accordance with those skilled in the art. Moreover,“formed on” can also mean “formed over.” The term “connected” includesan electrical connection.

Embodiments will be described with respect to the accompanying drawings.FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a mask frameassembly according to an embodiment.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the mask frame assembly 10 includes a frame100 and a polymer film 200.

The frame 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be manufactured with a metal andhave at least one opening portion 110 in a rectangular form, however,the spirit of an embodiment of which is not limited thereto, and may beformed in various forms, such as a circle or hexagon. The length andwidths of the opening portions 110 can be substantially the same.

The polymer film 200 has a pattern portion 210 a corresponding to theopening portion 110 of the frame 100, and plural slits 210 b are formedon the pattern portion 210 a so as to allow a deposition material topass through the slits in a deposition process.

The polymer film 200 may be formed of polymer materials, such aspolyimide (PI), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyaryletherketone (PAEK),or liquid crystal polymer. The above-referenced materials have anexcellent thermal resistance, a small change in property from a lowtemperature to a high temperature, and a strong chemical resistance andabrasion resistance, as high-performance plastic, and may maintainstable performance in poor surroundings. For example, polyimide used tomanufacture the polymer film 200 has a coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE) of about 3 ppm/° C. or less, which means that it is possible toperform fine deposition processing even in the temperature of about 500°C. or higher.

In some embodiments, the polymer film 200 is manufactured by coating,drying, and hardening a polymer solution 200 a thinly on a glass 50 (seeFIGS. 5A through 5D). In a general deposition process, such a polymerfilm 200 becomes closely attached to a display substrate (not shown) bybeing pulled by an electrostatic chuck (not shown) with placing thedisplay substrate (not shown) between the polymer film 200 and theelectrostatic chuck (not shown).

Here, about 10 μm to about 50 μm is appropriate for the thickness of thepolymer film 200. If the polymer film 200 is excessively thinner thanneeded, when the polymer film 200 becomes closely attached to thedisplay substrate by the electrostatic chuck, the polymer film 200 maybe torn or transformed. On the contrary, if the polymer film 200 isexcessively thicker than needed, the polymer film 200 fails to becomecompletely closely attached to the display substrate by the weight ofthe polymer film 200 itself, which causes a shadow phenomenon where adeposition material reaches a region beyond the region that the slit 210b of the polymer film 200 defines in time of deposition, and a thicknessdistortion phenomenon of a deposition film. Accordingly, the polymerfilm 200 is formed with an appropriate thickness to provide an optimumdeposition process, in other words, if the polymer film 200 ismanufactured in the thickness of about 10 to about 50 μm as describedabove, superfine deposition patterning is possible even on a large-scalesubstrate without damage, transformation, or sagging. However, dependingon embodiments, it is possible that the thickness of the polymer film200 is less than about 10 μm or greater than about 50 μm.

Hereinafter, a combined structure of the frame 100 and the polymer film200 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the mask frame assembly of FIG.1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the mask frame assembly 10 is arranged so that theopening portions 110 of the frame 100 correspond to (e.g., locatedsubstantially directly below) the pattern portions 210 a of the polymerfilm 200. The frame 100 and the polymer film 200 may be combined in manyways, and the mask frame assembly 10 illustrated in FIG. 2 shows thestate where the frame 100 has been combined with the polymer film 200during the drying and hardening of the polymer film 200.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a mask frame assemblyaccording to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the mask frame assembly 10 illustrates the statewhere the frame 100 is adhered on the polymer film 200 by furtherincluding an adhesive layer 300 between the frame 100 and the polymerfilm 200. For a material of the adhesive layer 300, silicone may beused.

Generally, as an organic material deposition process is repeatedlyperformed, an organic material gets accumulated and remains on the maskframe assembly 10. If the organic material deposition process continuesto be performed leaving the organic material accumulated on the maskframe assembly 10 as such, the above-referenced shadow phenomenon or thedeposition film thickness distortion phenomenon appears. Here, if theframe 100 and the polymer film 200 are combined with silicone, theattachment and detachment of the frame 100 and the polymer film 200becomes facilitated, therefore, it is possible to perform an efficientorganic material deposition process by rapidly attaching or detachingthe polymer film 200 to or from the frame 100.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the mask frame assembly 10according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4,and 5A through 5E. Depending on the embodiment, additional states(operations) can be added, others removed, or the order of the states(operations) changed in FIG. 4.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the method of manufacturing themask frame assembly 10 may include coating the polymer solution 200 a onthe glass 50 in operation S401, drying and hardening the polymersolution 200 a in operation S402, combining the frame 100 to the polymerfilm 200 in operation S403, desorbing the glass 50 in operation S404,and processing a plurality of slits 210 b on the pattern portions 210 aof the polymer film 200 in operation S405.

In coating the polymer solution 200 a in operation S401, polymermaterials, such as PI, PPS, PEEK, or liquid crystal polymer as recitedabove may be used as the material of the polymer solution 200 a.

If the coating of the polymer solution 200 a on the glass 50 inoperation S401 (see FIG. 5A) is followed by the drying and hardening ofthe polymer solution 200 a in operation S402, the polymer film 200 isformed on the glass 50 (see FIG. 5B).

The frame 100 and the polymer film 200 can be combined in two ways.

First, the frame 100 may be combined to the polymer solution 200 abefore the polymer solution 200 a becomes substantially completelydried, and FIG. 5C is a view illustrating the form of the frame 100 andthe polymer film 200 combined as such.

Otherwise, after the polymer solution 200 a coated on the frame 100becomes substantially completely dried and hardened and turns into thepolymer film 200, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the frame 100 and thepolymer film 200 may be combined by coating the adhesive layer 300 onthe polymer film 200 and then combining the frame 100 to the adhesivelayer 300. Silicone may be used as the material of such an adhesivelayer 300, which has been described above, and therefore, detailedexplanations thereof are omitted herein.

After the frame 100 and the polymer film 200 are combined to each otheras such, it is prepared to form the slits 210 b on the pattern portions210 a of the polymer film 200 by desorbing the glass 50 in operationS404.

Finally, after the glass 50 is desorbed, the slits 210 b are formed onthe polymer film 200 in operation S405. Here, the slits 210 b of thepolymer film 200 may be formed in various ways, but it is preferable toform the slits 210 b by a laser patterning method or a light exposuremethod.

As described above, according to at least one of the above embodiments,the mask frame assembly and the method of manufacturing the same enablessuperfine deposition patterning and has the effect of improving thedeposition film thickness distortion phenomenon by the sagging of asubstrate or a mask. The mask frame assembly can be used to depositdeposition materials to a display substrate to manufacture a displaydevice such as OLEDs.

While the inventive technology has been described with reference to thefigures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat various changes in form and details may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention as definedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mask frame assembly for manufacturing a displaydevice, the mask frame assembly comprising: a frame having at least oneopening portion defined therein; and a polymer film having a pluralityof slits defined therein and combined to the frame.
 2. The mask frameassembly of claim 1, wherein the frame is formed at least partially of ametal.
 3. The mask frame assembly of claim 1, further comprising anadhesive layer being interposed between the frame and the polymer filmand adhering the frame and the polymer film.
 4. The mask frame assemblyof claim 2, further comprising an adhesive layer being interposedbetween the frame and the polymer film and adhering the frame and thepolymer film.
 5. The mask frame assembly of claim 1, wherein the polymerfilm comprises one or more of: polyimide, polyphenylene sulfide,polyaryletherketone, and liquid crystal polymer.
 6. The mask frameassembly of claim 5, wherein the polymer film comprises a patternportion and the slits are formed on the pattern portion.
 7. The maskframe assembly of claim 6, wherein the pattern portion comprises aplurality of pattern portions, wherein the at least one opening portioncomprises a plurality of opening portions, and wherein the number of thepattern portions is the same as the number of the opening portions. 8.The mask frame assembly of claim 7, wherein the lengths and widths ofthe opening portions are substantially the same.
 9. The mask frameassembly of claim 6, wherein the opening portion is formed in a locationcorresponding to the pattern portion.
 10. The mask frame assembly ofclaim 9, wherein the opening portion is formed substantially directlybelow the pattern portion.
 11. The mask frame assembly of claim 1,wherein the thickness of the polymer film is in the range from about 10μm to about 50 μm.
 12. The mask frame assembly of claim 1, wherein thepolymer film has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of about 3ppm/° C. or less.